The Impact of the Ressurection
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The resurrection of the Lord is the most pivotal moment of our faith.
Yes His death is the completion of His work, but it is His resurrection that is the divine sign of the Fathers vindication of the Son.
4 who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
The resurrection proves that Jesus thing Jesus taught and His mission to save sinners is legitimate and ordained by the Father.
So important is this vindication that the Word says:
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
So the resurrection of Jesus Christ has huge spiritual implications, of that there is no doubt.
But today i ask: Does the resurrection of Jesus have implications for our normal day to day life?
Yes we know that because of the resurrection of the Lord, we too shall be like him in our own resurrection:
14 Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.
This of course is a wonderful promise when our life on earth comes to its end.
But what about now?
But what about now?
That we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what implications that this power have for me today?
In other words: Does the fact of the resurrection have implications for my mind, my thinking, my attitude?
Turns out: Yes!
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.
9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without complaining or arguments;
15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
16 holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.
This wonderful passage is a giant attitude adjustment, an adjustment based on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
There is a lot to unpack in these verses but i am only going to look at 1 verse. And rejoice because its the shortest verse of them all.
God is saying that in light of how Jesus, knowing that He would not remain dead but be raised from the dead, willingly went to the cross, was crucified, was buried and then rose from the dead - in light of all this God says to us:
14 Do all things without complaining or arguments;
What on earth does complain ing and arguing have to do with the resurrection?
Well, the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and thus our own resurrection is a primary source for christian joy.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Let me spell this out:
The Reserection of Jesus Christ is the reason for all Christian Joy and Peace.
So a Christian who complains and aurgues is forfitting this precious peace.
Lets break it down:
Complaining
Complaining
The greek word for complaining is “gongs-mos” and it means to grumble and murmer.
It speaks of the disatisfaction of ones situation.
So the question is: What do we do when we find ourselves in circumstances that are difficult?
Look to Jesus.
What did Jesus do when He was in the difficult circumstance of knowing that He would be crucified?
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
What attitude did Jesus have towards the incredible difficult circumstances of His crucifixion?
51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;
51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
This concept of “setting your face” towards something is very powerful.
It means literally that you are facing the challenge head on.
In each and every situation of life it is so important that we practice discernment.
What do we need to discern?
In every situation there will be factors that you CAN control and there will be factors that you CANNOT control.
Complaining is when you focus on those factors that you CANNOT control.
And it accomplishes nothing.
its the same thing as Jesus says:
27 And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span?
Jesus understood that his cursifixion was in the hands of His Father. There was nothing to do but face it.
However, look at how Jesus behaved during his crusifixion:
26 So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves.
43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Even in the midst of the most painful circumstances of His life Jesus still gives comfort, hope and encouragment to those in need.
In every situation, yes there are difficult factors we cannot controll - so the best thing to do is to face them headon.
And in every situation we face there will be things that we CAN controll, things like our attitude towards others, our faithfulness to God, our obedience to His Word....etc.
Copmplaining about things we cannot control robs us of the energy we need to change the things we CAN control.
Aurguing.
The greek word for aurguing is “dialog-ismos”, this is the same word used in Romans 14.
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions.
Again aurguments are evidence of little to no joy.
Have you ever been so happy that you have said or thought “Nothing can get me down today”?
What that means is that you are so happy, so joyful that your joy makes petty anoyances practically non-existant.
Well, the ressurection should be such a powerful source of Joy for the christian that it should do the same.
Again discernment is vital.
In any disagrement with another person we need to discern whether or not the subject of the disagreement is worth the effort.
The bible puts it like this:
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions.
That is which worth aurguing over is called a FACT.
That which is not worth aurguing over is called an Opinion.
We need discernment to tell them apart.
Let me let you in a sad reality: Most people lack the maturity and self examination neccesery to tell the differtence between these two things.
What this means is that in any given aurgument you cannot control the opinions or beliefs of other people.
But you can Control whether or not you spend a single calorie of energy on a waist of time disagreement.
23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.
24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged,
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless.
If the disagreement is about facts and winning the argument will advance the kingdom them by all means debate the issue.
But if the disagreement is over a matter of opinion then learn to leave it alone.
Aurguing over the opinions of others robs you of joy.
Conclusion: